Spouts have been widely used for bag-shaped packages that hold a fluid or jelly content due to ease of resealing the package and discharging the content because the package is formed of a plastic film, a lamination of the plastic film and a metal foil or the like and because such a resin spout is attached to the package by welding.
In a bag-shaped package that holds food or beverage, cleanliness is generally ensured by filling the package with content that has been heated at a high temperature.
However, heating at a high temperature may spoil the taste depending on the contents. In addition, productivity is reduced due to the need to carry out a cooling process after the processes for heating the content and filling the package have been completed. Thus, the content is preferably filled in a previously sterilized package using an aseptic process (this is called “aseptic filling”). Bag-shaped packages having welded spouts are also required to be accommodated to aseptic filling.
In aseptic processing, a capped spout that is previously sterilized by electron beam radiation is connected to a package and is further sterilized by a chemical agent. It is therefore important that the chemical agent not adhere to the spout of the manufactured bag-shaped package. It is especially important that the chemical agent that has entered a discharge pipe or minute asperities of the spout not remain in the pipe or the asperities. In other words, any chemical agent that adheres must be completely removed because a chemical agent that remains in the spout or in the cap causes problems such as degradation of the taste of the content.
However, it is difficult to completely remove the chemical agent that remains at these portions by simple processes, such as blowing away with air. On the other hand, complicated removing processes, such as heating and drying, do not lead to satisfactory results with regard to productivity and cost. Accordingly, in order to ensure that no chemical agent remains, it is preferable, at the sterilization process that uses the chemical agent, to prevent any chemical agent from enter portions of a spout from which removing them is difficult.
As known from, for example, JP2008-87786A (Patent Document 1) and JP2009-166898A (Patent Document 2), there are spouts that have a discharge pipe with an opening that has been previously closed.
Patent Document 1 proposes a spout that includes a discharge pipe and an attachment that is attached to an opening of the container body. The spout has a diaphragm that is arranged in the discharge pipe and that closes a discharge port, and a multi-layered sleeve that is arranged on the inner surface of the discharge pipe. The diaphragm and the lower end of the sleeve are disposed at a location where a seal is formed against the container body.
Patent Document 2 proposes a spout (1) including a discharge pipe (3) and an attachment (6) that is welded to the inner edge of a pouch (2). A sealed bottom (5) and a tear-out piece (9) are provided at the lower end of the discharge pipe (3). A breakable weakened part (8) is formed in the discharge pipe that is located above the sealed bottom (5).
Both Patent Documents 1 and 2 mentioned above disclose a spout that allows content to be discharged by breaking the diaphragm or by removing the tear-out piece when the spout is used.
However, in the spout configured as shown in Patent Documents 1 and 2 mentioned above, the diaphragm or the tear-out piece separates from the spout and floats in the package, and there is some concern that purchasers of the food or the beverage may accidentally swallow them. Even though such an occurrence is remote, the concern above is not preferable from the standpoint of the purchaser's mental well-being.
Further, the separated diaphragm or tear-out piece may move with the flow of the content to obstruct the flow path of the spout again and may prevent the content from being discharged. This may also happen in the case where the diaphragm and the tear-out piece are not completely separated from the discharge pipe.